[Jay-Z's Mom:]

Shawn Carter was born December 4th

Weighing in at 10 pounds 8 ounces

He was the last of my 4 children

The only one who didn't give me any pain when i gave birth to him

And that's how i knew that he was a special child



[Jay-Z Verse 1]

They say "they never really miss you til you dead or you gone"

So on that note i'm leaving after the song

So you ain't gotta feel no way about Jay so long

At least let me tell you why i'm this way, Hold on

I was conceived by Gloria Carter and Adaness Revees

Who made love under the Siccamore tree 

Which makes me

A more sicker emcee than my momma would claim

At 10 pounds when i was born i didn't give her no pain

Although through the years i gave her her fair share

I gave her her first real scare

I made it from birth and i got here

She knows my purpose wasn't purpose

I ain't perfect i care

But i feel worthless cause my shirts wasn't matchin my gear

Now i'm just scratchin the surface cause what's burried under there

Was a kid torn apart once his pop disappeared

I went to school got good grades could behave when i wanted

But i had demons deep inside that would raise when confronted

Hold on



[Jay-Z's Mom:]

Shawn was a very shy child growing up

He was into sports

And a funny story is

At 4 he taught hisself how to ride a bike

A two wheeler at that

Isn't that special?

But, i noticed a change in him when me and my husband broke up



[Jay-Z Verse 2]

Now all the teachers couldn't reach me

And my momma couldn't beat me

Hard enough to match the pain of my pop not seeing me, SO

With that distain in my membrain

Got on my pimp game

Fuck the world my defense came

Then Dahaven introuced me to the game

Spanish Jose introduced me to cane

I'm a hustler now

My gear is in and i'm in the in crowd

And all the wavey light skinned girls is lovin me now

My self esteem went through the roof man i got my swag

Got a vocal from this girl when her man got bagged

Plus i hit my momma with cash from a show that i had

Supposedly knowin nobody paid Jaz wack ass

I'm getting ahead of myself, by the way, i could rap

That came second to me movin this crack

Gimme a second i swear

I will say about my rap career

Til 96 came niggas i'm here

Good-bye



[Jay-Z's Mom:]

Shawn use to be in the kitchen

Beating on the table and rapping

And um, until the wee hours of the morning

And then i bought him a boom box

And his sisters and brothers said that he would drive them nuts

But that was my way to keep him close to me and out of trouble



[Jay-Z Verse 3]

Good-bye to the game all the spoils, the adreneline rush

Your blood boils you in a spot knowing cops could rush

And you in a drop your so easy to touch

No two days are alike

Except the first and fifteenth pretty much

And "trust" is a word you seldom hear from us

Hustlers we don't sleep we rest one eye up

And a drought can define a man, when the well dries up

You learn to work the water without workin, of thirst you'll die YUP

And niggas get tied up for product

And little brothers ring fingers get cut up

To show mothers they really got em

And this was the stress i live with til i decided

To try this rap shit for a livin

I Pray i'm forgiven

For every bad decision i made

Every sister i played

Cause i'm still paranoid to this day

And it's nobody fault i made the decisions i made

This is the life i chose or rather the life that chose me



If you can't respect that your whole perspective is wack

Maybe you'll love me when i fade to black



If you can't respect that your whole perspective is wack

Maybe you'll love me when i fade to black

[repeat 2 more times to fade]